NICOLE RITCHIE – IS THE “BAD GIRL” PERSONA GONE FOREVER?

Nicole Ritchie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl over the weekend. As a parenting expert, I’m asked if her “bad girl” persona could be gone forever. The answer is an emphatic “yes.”

Did being pregnant help Nicole clean up her act in any way? Absolutely! Before discovering she was pregnant, Nicole battled a host of addictions, including heroin, and a debilitating eating disorder. A woman’s body develops a different hormonal mix when it prepares her for motherhood. It often also makes her feel happier and more stable than before. That, coupled with getting in touch with millions of years of cellular memories of wanting to insure the health and safety of her unborn child, gave Nicole the absolute best platform for getting clean and sober.

This same combination of pregnancy hormones and awakened cellular memories also would support recovery from an eating disorder. It’s one thing to be told you’re wrecking your health and quite another to be told you’re wrecking the health of your unborn child. Here, Nicole had nine months of pregnancy and at least six months of breast-feeding coming up to build new eating habits. She can put both her addictions and her eating disorder behind her if she wants to. It’s probably the best chance she will ever have.

Does the baby’s birth also impact Joel, the father? Yes, and in beautiful and mysterious ways. Once a man learns he has fathered a child, those millions of years of cellular memory kick in for him too, and he suddenly feels like taking better care of himself and becoming more self-responsible so he can take care of his child. Plus, when he is in close proximity with his pregnant partner, and later with her and the baby, the three of them share in a unified field of energy that protects and supports them and helps them behave in caring and responsible ways to one another.

So is Nicole, the “bad girl,” gone forever? No, our addictions and eating disorders don’t every disappear, they just “lay low.” When our stress level increases, they can return. The key to a permanent recovery is to always remember: once addicted, always addicted. Keep going to 12-step meetings, stay in touch with others who are on the same program, stay in therapy – stay on top of it. Nicole’s “bad girl” can be history and we hope it is!